Don't Mess With Speedster's Minds
by Quinis
Summary: In Bereft, what if, instead of six months, Wally lost six years because of his speedster mind? He's young and scared and lost (and Artemis doesn't get why he keeps hiding behind her). And he says things older Wally has keep locked away for years.


**Don't Mess With Speedster's Minds**

* * *

**Notes:** I know next to nothing about how to handle child abuse but still attempted to write it anyway. The resolution in this story fits Wally's situation and it in no way reflects how child abuse should be handled.

Anyway, this prompt was pointed out to me by FallenHope-Angel and I thought it sounded interesting. I've taken scenes and lines straight from the mentioned episode (Bereft).

* * *

**Prompt title: Six years not six months **

_Prompt: Remember how only six months were erased from the teams minds? Well what if because of Wally's speedster mind, six years were erased from his mind. Wally still saves Artemis and helps the team out but he does it without even knowing anything. He subconsciously knows how to user his speed so he's faster because he doesn't have the mental block on his mind._

_ Bonus: M'gann can't return his memories because its too much strain on Wally's mind and requires a delicate touch from an experienced telepathy._  
_ Double Bonus: Flash finds out and Daddy!Flash makes an appearance._  
_ Triple Bonus: Wally is abused and no one even knew. So he accidentally says something he shouldn't, or says something wise._  
_ Rainbow Wally Bonus:_  
_ "Daddy gets mad at me all the time. Sometimes I make him mad so he'll talk to me. It's not okay if you're daddy ignores you Mr. Superboy, it hurts. It hurts to be ignored."_

* * *

"Um... hey?" a timid voice called, "wake up." Artemis groaned and held her pounding head. She opened her eyes to a remote cabin and a red-headed teenager in black spandex that covered his body except for the bottom part of his face and his hair. There was also a lightning blot on his chest.

"Are you one of the good guys?" he asked, his voice was of a male teenager's depth but held a childish innocence to it.

"What? Who are you?" she questioned because she was probably as far from 'good guys' as you could get.

The boy mumbled something.

"Louder," she prompted with an annoyed sigh.

"Wally. What about you? Are you with the Green Arrow?"

Artemis looked down as she wondered why he would think that; only to see what she was wearing. No wonder her stomach felt cold! And she was wearing all green with an arrow on her chest! She figured that the weight over her eyes was a mask so at least her identity (and her shame) was hidden from this... Wally.

"Who put me in this?" she demanded to know.

"Wow," Wally whispered, sitting down and almost seeming to curl into a ball with his knees at his chest. Louder, he asked, "You know how to use that?" He nodded towards her bow.

"Yeah," she responded, trying not to freak out. She needed to keep her head, since she didn't think this ball of trembles would be able to help. "My dad taught me." And then it hit her. "Dad." Wally looked up at her with a curious look. "He must have done this. Another of his stupid tests." She really hated his tests.

"Test?"

"He probably wants me to kill you." She expected fear. Instead, all she got was a passive head tilt.

"What's that sound?" Wally asked. Artemis cocked her head to listen.

Missile!

"Run!" she ordered, grabbing Wally's hand as she bolted out of the cabin. Outside was a war zone. Artemis let go of Wally's hand to pull out an arrow and ready it. She aimed for the gunners and fired. The arrow exploded, lightening the barrage of attacks at them.

She readied to fight the tanks when strong hands scooped her up.

"Sorry!" she heard right before a barrage of strong wind hit her.

"Fast, we're going so fast!" Wally said and Artemis couldn't tell if he was overjoyed or terrified.

When he stopped to put her down, she took a good look at him.

"You know, I've seen Kid Flash on the news. You look a little like him, except he doesn't wear black."

"'Kid Flash'?" Wally questioned, "like 'The Flash'?"

"Yeah. Kid Flash is his side-kick."

"The Flash has a side-kick?" Wally questioned in shock. "How did I miss that? I'm the Flash's biggest fan!"

"Then you've probably been living under a rock the past few years because Kid Flash has been everywhere with the Flash," she countered with a smirk. For some reason, she liked this kid. His reactions were funny. For example, his reaction to her words was to groan and drop into a crouch with his hands raking through his hair.

"I'm the worst 'no.1 fan' ever."

Artemis smiled at the sight and then decided it was time to cheer him up. After all, they would need to be on the top of their games to get out of this mess.

"How about we see how fast you can run?" she asked him.

* * *

_[Get down! Don't worry, I'm almost there!]_

Artemis jolted and her arrow missed her target.

"Did you just hear a girl talking in your head?" she asked Wally, who was doing well for someone who didn't know a thing about his powers beyond what he knew about the Flash.

"You too?" Wally breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought Dad might have hit my head hard and made voices."

"Hello! I'm Megan!" Artemis gave an internal sigh at the way Wally almost ducked behind her. Sure, it wasn't every day when a green-skinned, flying red-head dropped from the sky but he could at least try and not look scared.

"You're Kid Flash. Wally," Megan said, pointing to Wally. "And you're Artemis."

"I'm Artemis, yes," she responded. She turned back to look at Wally. "Kid Flash? Really?"

Megan kept going, "it's ok. We're teammates. Friends. I made you cookies."

"I do like cookies," Wally commented, his stomach choosing that moment to growl. "But you are a stranger. Sorry."

Megan slapped her forehead, said 'Hello, Megan!' and explained that they all had memory loss.

She named two other members of their 'team', 'Robin' and 'Superboy' and suggested that they try and find them.

* * *

"Man, it's good to see a familiar face." Wally jumped as the shadowy figure appeared behind him. He fell just short of screaming and ducked behind Artemis.

"Hey! Why do you always hide behind me?" Artemis demanded to know.

"You're nice," Wally whispered in response, "and don't jump at me."

"I've got six months of memory loss," Robin pointed out, "how about you guys?"

"Possibly the same," Megan responded, Artemis nodded in agreement.

"He's missing more though," Artemis added, pointing to Wally.

"Kid Flash?" Robin questioned, moving towards the red-head speedster. Wally didn't respond to the name. "Wally?"

"Right, I'm Kid Flash," Wally muttered, eyeing Robin curiously. "Um... who are you?"

Robin looked hurt for a moment, before pushing it away.

"I'm Robin. Batman's parter."

"We're also in a team together! The four of us and Superboy!" Megan pointed out as she had figured it out from the tiny fragments of memories she had uncovered.

"Superboy?" Robin questioned. Artemis groaned and flung out her hands.

"This is stupid! We need our memories back!" She didn't think they would be able to work together properly without them.

A moment after she said it, the world faded into swirls of coloured fragments and darkness. With their consent, Megan attempted to restore their memories.

It worked on all but one.

"I'm sorry," Megan said to them, "but I can't get into Wally's mind."

"What?" Robin wasn't happy about that.

"Why not?" Artemis didn't think that was fair.

Wally shrunk under the scrutiny. He felt useless. Of course he would be the one that messed up somehow.

"His thoughts run," Megan explained, "I will try and demonstrate." She held her hands out and the mindscape seemed to vibrate with a loud humming. Artemis covered her ears and almost missed Megan's next words, "that's what Wally's mind feels like. I bet my Uncle would be able to work with it but anything I try might make it worse."

Wally bit his knuckle to suppress a whimper. He didn't like this at all but was afraid to ask them to stop.

"It'll be okay," Robin said to him once they were out of the mindscape. "We'll find everyone, achieve the mission objectives and then get you back."

* * *

Wally smiled shyly at Superboy and Aqualad as they sat on medical beds getting a check-up. He was understandably nervous since he didn't know these two well and he was beginning to worry about what his parents were thinking. He had been out for much longer than a day and that meant punishment.

Wally's stomach growled at the thought and he wondered when he would next get to eat. At least the people in this mountain base were nice and gave him food.

"Batman's called Martian Manhunter and The Flash and they'll be here soon," Robin said as he walked into the room.

"And Superman?" Superboy questioned in a curious tone. Robin shook his head and Superboy deflated a little.

"Are you Superman's family?" Wally asked Superboy. He had been wondering this ever since he heard the name. "Or are you like Robin and just his partner?" How many heroes had taken partners anyway?

Superboy glared at him. The look was dark and reminded Wally of the way his father would sometimes look. He jumped off the bed and backed towards the wall.

"Nevermind," he said quickly, unaware that it came out unintelligible to non-speedsters.

"Superboy is Superman's clone," Aqualad explained in a soothing tone, "and Superman does not yet understand why he needs to look after Superboy."

"Oh," Wally said with a blink. That made sense. "So he's like me."

"What do you mean?" Aqualad questioned without changing his tone.

"Um... Superman's like Superboy's daddy. His daddy ignores him. My daddy ignores me. He doesn't ignore me when he's mad. And my daddy gets mad at me all the time. Sometimes I make him mad so he'll talk to me. It's not okay if you're daddy ignores you Mr. Superboy, it hurts. It hurts to be ignored."

"He doesn't ignore you when he's mad?" Aqualad repeated. His tone was the same but his face reflected some confusion and anger.

"Should I make Superman mad at me?" Superboy asked.

"No!" Robin said, stepping between Wally and Superboy. He then turned to face Wally. Wally flinched as Robin's glove covered hands touched his shoulders. "Wally," he said in a calmer tone. "What does your Daddy do when he's mad?"

Wally bit his lip. He realised that he must have said something wrong.

"He talks to me."

"What does he say?"

"He tells me what I did wrong," Wally's lip started to tremble as he recalled the last time his daddy paid attention to him that he could remember. "He tells me that he has to punish me for it."

"What kind of punishment does he use?"

"Um…" Wally trailed off as he tried to think.

"What punishment did he use last?"

"Oh!" Wally could answer that! He smiled as he recounted, "he hit me and I hit the wall. He told me that I couldn't play with my Flash toy outside of my room and that he didn't want to see it. Then he hit me again and sent me to my room. I missed dinner and breakfast because he didn't unlock my door until school time."

"Does he punish you like that often?" Aqualad asked. Wally looked over at him.

"Only when he's mad. It's better. I don't like being ignored. It hurts." He mumbled, "it hurts when mama doesn't even look at me and when there's no space at the table for me."

He sniffled as hot tears began to pool in his eyes. A moment later, he was being crushed to Robin's chest with two warm arms wrapped around him and squeezing.

Wally didn't see the look Robin sent to his two other teammates. Aqualad nodded at Robin and left the room, pulling Superboy along with him. He could already see the confusion and frustration on Superboy's face.

"What Wally's parents did to him, it's not normal," Aqualad began, "and it's not right. Just like how it's not right how Superman ignores you…"

* * *

The Flash held clenched hands just above the control panel. He suppressed the growl rising in his throat and the desire to speed off and deal with his in-laws.

"Why did you wait to show me this?" He had just taken Wally for a run to calm him down enough to help Manhunter restore his memories. Right now, Wally's memories, all six missing years, were being restored.

Six years of abuse.

"So you didn't know?" Batman asked. Flash rounded on him, ready to hit the Dark Night for even suggesting that he let Wally be hurt. "It might not matter, since Wally's living with you."

"He… what?"

Batman gave his 'why do I work with these fools' sigh.

"Think. When was the last time Wally saw his parents?"

"Last week. We had a family dinner."

"Okay. When was the last time he actually stayed overnight with his parents?"

"Um…" Good question. The Flash couldn't remember when Wally's room with him and his wife had last been empty. Realisation hit. "Wally lives with us." It was Wally's room, not the second guest bedroom. Last summer holidays, they had even painted the walls in colours Wally chose. His posters were there and his homework was often left on the dining room table. Wally's videogames and movies lined their shelves and Iris had put up his science ribbons and trophies in their home for everyone to see.

"Just keep him from being alone with his parents and nothing should happen."

"And we're just supposed to ignore what did happen?" Flash demanded to know, speeding to block Batman's path to the door.

"You know as well as I that these kinds of cases are difficult. Difficult to prove, difficult to get convictions. In addition, Wally could be placed in the system with even you and your wife barred from contact. The amount of scrutiny which would be brought down on your family would allow for discovery of yours and Wally's secret identities.

"You risk everything you have now for crimes which happened years ago-"

"Could still be happening!" Flash pointed out.

"-in a vain attempt to punish yourself for not noticing sooner?" Batman continued, unheeding of the Flash's interruption.

"But Wally-"

"Obviously didn't want you to know. And the only reason he mentioned anything is because he was confused and somehow managed to see the team as friends, despite not remembering them."

"But-"

"Informing you is merely a formality in order to put in place protocols to ensure that Wally's parents do not harm him again." That took the Flash a second to process. When he did, he smiled.

"Aw, I knew I could count on you, Batman."

* * *

Wally placed his head in his hands. He would give anything for a villain to attack, for Batman to call them for a mission, for the world to end, anything to get rid of the kicked puppy looks the team were sending him.

Wally turned to Artemis, the only one acting normal around him.

"Hey, you never said why your dad would want you to," he made a slicing motion across his neck complete with sound effect, "me."

"I got confused by some old movie I saw the other night. About a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend 'cause he was from a rival ninja clan."

"So, I'm your ninja boyfriend, huh?"

"Hey, amnesia, remember? Completely forgot how truly annoying you are."

"Oh, like you're the goddess of congeniality."

"Get a room," Robin announced, suddenly dropping from the ceiling.

"Hey Rob, where'd you go?" Wally asked, glad that his friend had decided to appear. He hadn't seen him since he got his memories restored.

"Debrief," Robin responded.

"And what is Batman's response to Wally's situation?" Aqualad asked.

"There's no situation!" Wally quickly pointed out, unfortunately he was ignored.

"Well, Kid Flash and Superboy could start a 'terrible dads' club," Robin mused, "except I wouldn't be able to join so that's a no."

"I like that idea," Wally said, just to annoy his friend. He whizzed over to where Superboy was sitting. "Wanna start a club with me?"

"'A club'?" Superboy questioned, frowning in confusion.

Before Wally could respond and spout some nonsense about how they would run their club, Batman and the Flash walked out. Wally turned to his uncle and felt the knot of cold fear in his stomach throb.

"Kid Flash, I would like a word with you," Batman said.

They knew. There was no doubt. Wally swallowed.

"Want me to come with?" Robin asked. Wally shook his head because he had an idea exactly who had told Batman about what he had said. It probably didn't help that, now that he had his memories, he remembered about the security feed which probably recorded everything he said.

He followed the Batman and his uncharacteristically quiet uncle. When Batman spoke, Wally expected questions and demands. Not for a round devices like a keychain to be pressed into his hand and instructions to be given.

"Should you find yourself alone with your parents and they hurt you, press this button. It'll inform me and the Flash and one of us will extract you from the situation." Wally didn't ask how Batman planned to do this from Gotham, he assumed the Dark Knight already had a way. "Flash also has a button which he is only to use in the event that your parents try and force you back to their house. He is also free to use it should anyone try and force you to leave your aunt and uncle's. Otherwise, he is to leave it alone." Batman shot a warning glare at the Flash. "Unless your parents hurt you in the future we will be leaving this situation as is."

"What?" Wally questioned, because he had not been expecting this. Wasn't there some code that said they had to do something?

"Have your parents hurt you recently?"

"No," he responded automatically. He hadn't seen his parents since last week and they tended to act civilly while around others. It was why he didn't stay for any meals beyond whole family ones which his aunt and uncle were invited to. Only interacting with them at functions meant that social conventions required them to ask how he was.

He had parents who asked how he was whenever they met and an aunt and uncle who loved him.

"Are you happy?"

"Yes." That was not a question he expected the Batman to ask.

"Then there's no reason why we can't leave the situation as is," Batman informed him and Wally felt such a rush of relief that he smiled up at Gotham's fearsome Dark Knight.

* * *

There was one thing Wally felt he had to do. It wasn't locate a souvenir from their last disaster of a mission; they had brought back a round roly-poly Sphere which Superboy adopted.

Wally needed to talk to Superboy. Who he found on the couch, watching the static on the TV.

"Uh, hey," he said, sitting down next to his teammate.

Superboy grunted in response.

A few more awkward moments passed. Wally was not good at the whole 'serious' thing. He preferred to joke and laugh and leave seriousness to the adults.

"Um... so I said a few things the other day..."

"Aqualad explained," Superboy said, turning to look at him. "He also said how your father hurt you, something which is unacceptable outside of sparring and training."

Wally laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. What he wouldn't give for one of the cookies he could smell baking and forgetting about this conversation.

"Yeah. I love my parents, you know? But, I can't stand living with them. But, it's okay because I have my uncle and my aunt and all of you guys. Just like how you have Black Canary and Red Tornado and all of us. And one day, we'll do something so great that Superman will have to pay attention to you, even if it's just to say 'good job' or something."

Superboy raised an eyebrow, his face reflecting his disbelief.

"Really?"

"Of course. Just don't let the hurt become all you have. Smile, laugh, make jokes, and maybe even find yourself a girl. I could help with that!"

"Uh... no."

"Fine."

Megan chose that moment to come flying through the room, crying out about her cookies. Wally smiled and dashed into the kitchen ready to help (and maybe get a cookie). Artemis snarked something about him and food as she walked in from training and Robin appeared from the rafters, dropping down onto the back of the couch. Aqualad walked in a few moments later and joined Superboy on the couch after declining a cookie.


End file.
